The Rosseau Group acquires Casablanca Winery Inn

GRIMSBY, ON (December 11th, 2017) – The Rosseau Group (“TRG”) has added two investments in one fell swoop. Rosseau Hospitality has acquired Casablanca Winery Inn & Spa; Rosseau Development Corp (“RDC”) has acquired prime development lands for a new residential complex.

Earlier this year, The Rosseau Group agreed to acquire the hotel and its related lands with an extended closing. After a year of diligence and development work, Casablanca Winery Inn & Spa is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rosseau Hospitality, a new division of The Rosseau Group of companies; Casablanca Towers (working title) has become the latest project for Rosseau Development Corp (“RDC”), Rosseau’s in-house development team.

Casablanca Winery Inn & Spa is a 78-room boutique hotel in Grimsby, Ontario, the Gateway to Wine Country. Casablanca, located on Grimsby’s rapidly-developing waterfront, overlooks the Niagara Escarpment and the shores of Lake Ontario. The wine-themed boutique inn is an event-driven business. It features over 9,000 square feet of event space, including private dining rooms, ballrooms, a chapel, and more. Casablanca can accommodate groups of all sizes, ranging from two people to three hundred people.

The inn features two full-service restaurants: Panorama, a roof-top restaurant and wine bar with unobstructed views of Lake Ontario and the Toronto skyline, and Bogey’s Grillhouse, a casual fare restaurant with a large seasonal patio on Winston Rd. The new owners have exciting plans in store for the hotel, including a brand refreshment, renovations, an expanded event schedule, and a redoubled emphasis on the hotel’s connection to the local wine industry – including a dramatic expansion of its local offerings to introduce one of the best selections of local wines in the province. TRG is also envisioning a significant expansion to the hotel to include more rooms and event space.

Rosseau Development Corp has already begun the redevelopment process for the excess lands just east of the hotel. The lands, which currently function as additional parking space for the hotel, will be redeveloped into the most substantial residential complex in the town. Current designs call for over 300,000 square feet of residential space with ground floor commercial condominiums on both Windward and Winston Drive.

Casablanca sits in the middle of one of Ontario’s most rapidly-transforming urban communities. The waterfront district has already seen thousands of residential units constructed and has thousands more in development.

“This is a big moment for us,” said John Mehlenbacher, partner at The Rosseau Group. “It’s not every day we have the opportunity to acquire a first-class business and a wonderful development opportunity. We look forward to the exciting years ahead.”